All on Bryce
by Flash Foreward
Summary: Chuck thinks over his past and present relationships, and notices a few parallels that make him think over what normal is for him. Short introspective one shot. Mild slash.


**A/N:** My first Chuck fic. Thanks go to Maryilee for the beta.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own "Chuck"

**All on Bryce**

It was hard enough when Professor Fleming told him that Bryce was the reason he was being kicked out, the reason he was being accused of, and punished for, something he hadn't done. He couldn't stand even thinking about it, but he couldn't _not_ think about it, either. His friend, his _best friend_, had turned him in for cheating. For something he would never even consider doing.

And Bryce's words, the look on his face when Chuck was leaving…_You did this to yourself…_it was all just too much.

It was hard enough.

He swore to himself that he'd never let that happen again, that he'd never get that close to anyone ever again.

And he didn't, not for a long time. Morgan didn't count because, well…he wasn't in love with Morgan and, if he were being completely honest with himself, he had to admit that he'd been in love with Bryce.

He was doing well, though; he thought. Living his life, content, in the loosest connotation of the word, at the Buy More, surrounded by friends who were close but not _too_ close. It was perfect.

Then the email came and everything changed.

He should have known Bryce would find a way back into his life, in the most obtrusive way possible, of course. In fact, he was pretty sure he _had_ known. He'd almost been expecting that email, and, as much as he hated it, he couldn't stop his heart from racing when he saw it.

Was he finally going to get an explanation?

Of course not. Instead he wound up with government secrets locked in his brain.

And two handlers watching his every move.

A beautiful woman pretending to be his girlfriend, fooling everyone, and…Casey. John Casey. Gruff, obnoxious, trigger happy John Casey.

Chuck couldn't get the man out of his head. He spent his days with Sarah, pretending he was dating her, pretending they were in a happy, committed relationship; but he spent his nights plagued with dreams of John Casey.

It was College all over again, except he wasn't sleeping with Casey. Yet.

He knew it was ridiculous, tacking the "yet" on the end. The thought that Casey could ever be interested in him was crazy, but he still added the "yet" to his thoughts whenever he considered the situation.

It wasn't that he didn't like Sarah, or that he hadn't liked Jill, no, both girls were great. Indeed, both situations started the same. He met a beautiful, interesting girl, he liked said girl, he started dating said girl (or "dating", as the case may be), and it would all be great.

With Jill, things had been wonderful for a long time. He'd honestly loved her, he really had. Then there was Bryce. Chuck wasn't sure how it started, but he remembered how much he'd regretted it after his expulsion. He always told people Bryce stole Jill from him, but that was only half the truth…Jill had also stolen Bryce.

It was one hell of a screwed up situation, he knew. He'd been in love with his girlfriend and his best friend at the same time. He'd tried his damnedest not to be, and had only made it worse, made the temptation that was Bryce even harder to ignore.

And he'd eventually given in. They'd sworn it would be a one time thing, that they were just experimenting. But then it kept happening.

Maybe if it hadn't, maybe if it had been a one time thing, Chuck wouldn't have been as hurt when everything went down.

Or maybe it would have been worse.

Either way, he could feel a similar situation sneaking up on him with Sarah and Casey. Similar because he wasn't in love with Sarah, and he couldn't be expelled from school. Though he could be fired…but he figured there was more chance of Morgan causing that than Casey or Sarah and the secrets in his brain. He hoped.

The only thing that he could say for sure was the same in this was the parallel between his inexplicable attraction to Bryce then and Casey now.

Yeah, that was it, a parallel. A fucked up parallel that made his head hurt if he thought about it for too long.

But he couldn't not think about it. So he was stuck with perpetual migraines from more than the flashes while he did his best to act _normal_. Because heaven forbid Morgan found out that Chuck rated any higher than "zero" on the Kinsey scale, (he didn't even want to consider where that would lead…it made the "Morgan Door" seem more intimidating than it should, being a window and all) let alone that he'd already slept with one man (Bryce Larkin, of all people) and was now fantasizing about another.

He didn't want to know what Morgan would say, or do, if he ever found out…

So Chuck spent his days acting as normal as he could, all the while slowly realizing that everything that was going on seemed to _be_ normal for him. A pattern. It happened once, and it was happening again…he couldn't just call it a one time thing anymore.

It was that damn parallel.

No.

It was that damn Bryce. He wouldn't (couldn't?) blame Casey, so he'd fall back on his usual scapegoat. It had worked for his expulsion, it could work for this.

He'd blame it all on Bryce.


End file.
